Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to data sharing in an enterprise application and more particularly to screen sharing between different end users over a computer communications network.
Description of the Related Art
Collaborative access to computing is a critical aspect of enterprise data processing. While individualistic computing in which one end user accesses a computing resource singularly is of importance, of greater importance in many circumstances is the ability to two or more end users to collaboratively access computing resources so as to achieve a result more quickly with greater efficiency and accuracy. Classical ways in which end users collaborate in enterprising computing range from the manual joint viewing of a singular computing screen to the more automated screen mirroring in which the display of one end user is provided for viewing to another end user over a computer communications network.
There are many forms of screen mirroring. In one form, screen mirroring is facilitated by remote access software. Application sharing is an element of remote access, falling under the collaborative software umbrella, that enables two or more users to access a shared application or document from their respective computers simultaneously in real time. Generally, the shared application or document will be running on a host computer, and remote access to the shared content will be provided to other users by the host user. Screen mirroring is a more rigid form of application sharing in which the entire display of one user is presented to another user irrespective of which portions of the display are connected to respectively different applications.
Screen mirroring for the purpose of collaborative computing, however, while allowing two end users to absolutely view the content of the screen of one of the end users, is deficient in that modern enterprise computing provides for the granular management of access by different end users to different data and features of an enterprise application. In many enterprise systems, access to features and data of an enterprise application is restricted according to the role of each end user. Yet, screen mirroring allows an end user of a non-permitted role to access a view to data of a permitted role. Yet further, screen mirroring oftentimes requires that the source and target devices are identical in terms of display characteristics. However, oftentimes different modalities of access exist for different users ranging from a mobile phone to a desktop computer. Finally, whereas screen mirroring shows all from the start of a session to the end, in many instances it is desirable to selectively present only portions of a screen during screen mirroring. Thus, screen mirroring is not a practical solution to collaborative computing in an enterprise application.